Product Specialist / Buyer
Oldham – Office based
Experience in toys or similar would be beneficial
**Fantastic offices, flexible start and finish times, excellent career progression**
Do you want to work for an exciting supplier to retailers, dealing with a wide variety of products across toys, and related products?
Our client is looking to strengthen the Product team with a driven and proactive individual, who’s eager to learn and develop their existing skills, in an exciting and fast paced creative working environment.
Job Purpose:
To own and drive the creative and commercial development of product ranges across assigned brands and categories, becoming a recognised expert in the market. This includes curating seasonal collections across all relevant price points and formats, delivering trend-led products ahead of competitors, and responding to customer-specific briefs with speed, quality, and cost efficiency. The role also requires ongoing development of everyday core SKUs, ensuring continuous improvement and adaptability to market demands.
Duties include:
Market & Trend Insight
- Conduct regular in-store and online competitive shopping to identify market trends, product formats, pricing, and emerging opportunities.
- Capture detailed notes and photographs, saving findings in the designated shared folders for team access.
- Present insights to the wider team to inform product strategy and range development.
Range Building & Concept Development
- Create commercially viable ranges that align with customer requirements, brand identity, and trend insights.
- Develop draft range plans including SKUs, RRPs, item descriptions, packaging concepts, and supplier recommendations.
Supplier Sourcing & Cost Management
- Identify, evaluate, and build relationships with suitable suppliers.
- Negotiate quotations to ensure competitiveness and margin requirements are met.
- Work with the Product Admin to maintain accurate and up-to-date pricing and specifications.
Project Management & Communication
- Set up dedicated Teams project chats to manage cross-functional communication and file sharing.
- Maintain an up-to-date development range plan as a working document accessible to all relevant teams.
- Set and monitor clear deadlines to ensure smooth workflows.
Style Files & Documentation
- Oversee the creation and maintenance of style files for every item in development.
- Ensure all specifications are confirmed, clear, and approved before progressing.
Artwork & Presentation Approvals
- Review and approve all product, packaging, and presenter page artwork.
- Ensure designs are proofread and details are accurate to achieve ‘right first time’ sampling.
- Approve final sales presentations before release.
Person Specification:
- Strong commercial acumen
- Exceptional communication abilities
- Proficient in numerical analysis and data interpretation
- Confident and engaging presenter
- Highly skilled in negotiation and influencing
- Enthusiasm for developing innovative and distinctive product formats
- Sharp eye for product detail and quality
- Creative mindset with a naturally curious approach
- Skilled at identifying emerging trends and opportunities
- Decisive and effective under pressure
Apply online or for further information please contact one of our specialist consultants quoting reference number: NJR16772
#SUP
Application question(s):
- 1. Do you have product development experience in toys or a similar product range?
- 2. Do you have Far East sourcing experience?
- 3. Are you happy to be fully office based? In Oldham.
Work Location: In person
